Accused Vanderbilt football player blames gang rape on university’s culture of ‘sexual freedom’

A former Vanderbilt University football player is blaming peer pressure and the school’s culture of “sexual freedom” for an incident in which he and several other men reportedly raped a woman’s unconscious body, urinated on her and posted photos and video of the event on social media.
According to Gawker, Cory Batey does not deny that he took part in the dorm room assault on the unconscious woman, but his lawyers told Reuters that their client is not to blame, saying the assault was caused by “a campus culture of sexual freedom, promiscuity and excessive alcohol consumption.”

The 21-year-old neuroscience major told the court that she was dating football player Brandon Vandenburg last year when the assault took place. The morning after a party, she woke up fully clothed in a strange bedroom. When she asked Vandenburg what had happened, he told her she had vomited on herself in a blackout and that he had cleaned her up and brought her there.

In fact, video evidence shows Vandenberg passing out condoms to his teammates and urging them to have intercourse with the victim, then allowing Batey to urinate on her.

Four players have been charged in the attack. Vandenberg and Batey’s trials are the first two to make it to court.

The AP reported that on Friday, Batey’s defense attorneys called neuropsychologist James Walker to the stand, who said that the “14 to 22” alcoholic drinks that Batey is estimated to have consumed clouded the player’s judgment.

“Because he was this intoxicated, he was not his normal self,” Walker told the court. “He was doing things that he would not have done normally.”

Defense attorney Worrick Robinson asked Walker if the university’s environment was to blame, saying, “Is there anything in their culture that might influence the way they act or the way they think or the way they make decisions?”

“Yes, at that age peer pressure is critical,” Walker replied, “because you’re just going out on your own, you’re not fully an adult, you’re not fully a child…You tend to take on the behavior of people around you.”

About the Author

David Ferguson is an editor at Raw Story. He was previously writer and radio producer in Athens, Georgia, hosting two shows for Georgia Public Broadcasting and blogging at Firedoglake.com and elsewhere. He is currently working on a book.